Unbundled Legal Services

Do you have a legal dispute with your neighbour, your spouse or children, your siblings, your business partner, your strata council, a doctor, your accountant, your contractor …? The potential list is a long one.

Many of these disputes end up in BC Supreme Court where legal representation can be very expensive, particularly for cases that cannot be quickly resolved.

We see more people every year acting for themselves in their court cases as self-represented litigants. It can be very challenging and is certainly not for everyone.

Although our courts are very accommodating to self-represented litigants, there are still basic elements of every case that must be proved before success is possible and self-represented litigants often lose because they have failed to recognize this basic fact. However, with the right assistance and coaching from experienced lawyers, some of you can be very effective advocates for yourselves. Although you may not be able to afford to hire a lawyer to represent you from start to finish, you can probably afford some legal advice and assistance with the most important parts of your case.

At Railtown Law, we are pleased to offer unbundled legal services to clients in appropriate cases. We can break your case down into smaller pieces, some parts that you will likely need help with and some parts that you can do on your own. This is sometimes referred to as a “limited retainer” and is otherwise known as “unbundled services”.

You need an experienced lawyer who will be able to look at your case and assess both it and you in terms of the appropriateness of applying unbundling to your specific situation. We will meet with you to discuss your case and determine whether it is an appropriate case for unbundling, what work we would do for you, and what tasks you would do yourself. You may only need help putting together your claim or your response (defence) to a claim; you may need help putting together a submission (your argument based on the evidence and the law that apply to your case) for the court but are able to present it yourself and answer the court’s questions when you are properly prepared.

We can also coach you on some practical and very basic points including:

what to expect during your court appearance

how to conduct yourself and respond to the judge

how to emphasize the strongest points in your case and address the weaknesses

how to refer to the evidence and the law so that the court understands your case…

…all so you have the best chance of success you could possibly have at a more affordable cost.

If you think unbundling is something you would like to know more about, give us a call. We offer significantly reduced rates for a half hour consultation and can provide telephone consultations for those who live outside of the Greater Vancouver area.

I have used Vivian Stewart for both personal and business issues over the past 7 years. She is straight forward, transparent and easy to understand. She is also extremely knowledgeable with respect to the law. Her approach is one of reasonableness and logic. As a client I have the comfort of knowing that her main interest is to focus on her client's best interest rather than on maximizing her own billable hours. I highly recommend Railtown Law.

Railtown Law has experience in family law and elder law and is legal counsel for our elderly mother. Our family engaged Vivienne Stewart as we have an unfortunate need to establish legal protection for mother. This situation is undergoing court proceedings in a multi-step litigation case. The first steps have been successful.
In the fight for your rights, Vivienne’s approach is straightforward, transparent, and absolutely to the point. We appreciate her timely response to every development. We are thankful for Vivienne’s counsel, and for the support from legal assistant Tracey.